MP News: Malwa's Opium Haven Now MDMA Manufacturing Hub

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Once known as the opium hub, the Ratlam-Neemuch-Mandsaur belt in the Malwa region of the state has now emerged as the epicentre for manufacture of MDMA - a synthetic narcotic drug commonly known as Molly or Ecstasy.

In the recent past, the police busted two MDMA manufacturing facilities in these districts – both in the backwaters of Gandhi Sagar dam.

Surjana, a village in Mandsaur district near Garoth, was the home to one such facility. Acting on specific inputs, more than 80 policemen from eight police stations of Mandsaur district raided the facility on Saturday night. DIG, Ratlam Range, Nimish Agrawal, told media that police seized 12.6 kg of the raw materials used in manufacture of MDMA during the raid. Two men, who have been arrested, told police that the racket was operating for past two years.

The police are now trying to unravel the backward and forward linkages of the manufacturers of the contraband. The seized raw material, semi-finished product and MDMA are said to be worth Rs 13 crore.

On November 28, 2025, a similar facility was busted in Lasudiya Hastmurar village of Neemuch district. Three persons were arrested and material worth Rs 30 crore was seized.

The racketeers also operate in neighbouring Rajasthan’s Mewar and Hadoti regions including Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh, Jhalawar and Kota district. Major seizures of MDMA have been made from these districts in the past few months. Last month, two MDMA units were busted on both sides of MP-Rajasthan border, one in Ghatakheri village of Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district and another in Ratlam.

Rajasthan police findings

According to Vikas Kumar, the IG of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of the Rajasthan police, at least 15 cases of manufacturing and smuggling of MDMA surfaced in the state in last six months. The ANTF has carried out 100 successful operations against all types of drug smugglers in the Hadoti and Mewar region.

MP connect

Mandsaur-Neemuch region and the adjoining Mewar and Hadoti area of Rajasthan have for long known for cultivation of opium and its illegal sale for use in manufacture of narcotic drugs.

Declining profits

With the north-east states and Jharkhand emerging as new centres for opium smuggling, the profits in the trade are no longer what they used to be for the syndicates operating in western MP and south-eastern Rajasthan. That was why those involved in the trade first switched to smack (heroin) and then to MDMA. The profit margins in MDMA trade are 10 to 12 times of opium smuggling.